Saint Lucy’s procession goes digital in Malmö

This year, while still important to bring light and joy, safety is also on the menu

Saint Lucy’s Day is a popular, if not an official and public, holiday for Swedes and other Nordic people. Even you might recall seeing images of girls, dressed in white, wearing a crown of candles singing songs. Well, that girl represents Saint Lucy, a Christian martyr whose name means light and aptly she brings light in the dark and long December nights.

Usually, this means that the girl chosen to play St. Lucy leads a procession and visits places, such as nursing homes, on 13 December. This year, as we all already know, this would sadly not be the case, so the Municipality of Malmö has opted for a digital alternative in order to bring the tradition closer to the eyes and hearts of its residents.

Concerts and processions have been pre-recorded

This tradition, which originates from the 18^th century, is usually performed in the southern Swedish city by students from the Malmö Latin School. The group of selected pupils goes to senior care homes or visits to other people for whom it is difficult to attend public concerts. There they sing carols and hand out ginger cookies.

Since the sanitary restrictions required the cancellation of both the visits and public concerts that decision dampened the holiday spirit considerably. As a response, the authorities have decided to turn to modern technology and broadcast pre-recorded version of the concerts.

So, come 13 December residents who want to get a helping of that cosy holiday tradition can go to malmo.se/lucia, malmo.se/kulturforaldre or the City of Malmo’s Facebook page and take a front seat to the concert from the comfort of their home.

Both the St. Lucy’s procession and the Christmas concert (which will be broadcast closer to Christmas Day) have been filmed at the medieval Malmöhus Castle, thus adding a touch of old-time flavour to the atmosphere.